gingerbread legs
by maravelous
Summary: AU; Her lips are blood red. She's pushing me to the limit. But she can't run fast enough; I'm catching up. — TemaTen


Hello world (: I dedicate this story to youknowwhoyouare. You guys are the sock to my foot & the pop to my tart. You drip with sexiness & you send innocent passersby reeling into the sweat of 1billiontrillion orgasms. Thanks for all the love & spam you've given me since day one! We're finally here,, Happy 1st Birthday to the best thing ever; my TemaTen FC! This one's for you~

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><p>"They're calling her Crimson."<p>

Tenten looked up from her book and perked her ears.

"What, they've got a name for her now?" scoffed a girl sitting at the round table behind Tenten. The hushed voices and beeping of the second floor of the campus library blended together in the background as the group of college girls, hunched over, gossiped quietly amongst each other.

"They give all urban legends names," said the girl who'd spoken before airily. "But I just Googled it on my phone, and they already have a bunch of results. People are talking about her all over the place online. I don't know why they're calling her Crimson though."

"Well didn't they say she wears red lipstick?" asked another girl, sounding very serious. "All her victims say so."

"If they knew she wore red lipstick they'd have to have seen her Sakura," another one disagreed impatiently. "If they saw her, then they'd know who she was."

"That's right." There was a scuffling as one of them intervened and they all pushed their books to the side; no more studying when they had something to talk about. "I mean, none of them could even give a hair color. How could they remember the color of her lips, but not her hair?"

"Well maybe they're just scared!" Sakura suggested. "Think about it; Since the semester started, in two months there have been about seven freak accidents, and the people that got into them have all almost died, and all said someone tricked them into it. Remember when Karui fell into the fireplace in the housing lounge and was sent to the hospital with all those burns? She said that a girl had dropped Karui's paper into the fire and made it look like an accident, but when Karui was bending over to try and get it out, the fire alarm went off, and when people jumped up to leave, she was pushed into it!"

"That could happen any day. It doesn't mean the girl pulled the fire alarm."

"But the same thing happened to Naruto when he was hit by a taxi, he said a girl was calling the cab on her cell phone, then when she hung up she started talking to him and Sasuke. After a while of talking she suggested Naruto should race Sasuke across the street. So of course even if Sasuke said no Naruto thought it was a good idea, but here's the thing; he keeps telling me the girl told him to start running _right_ when the taxi was turning the corner.

"Oh come on that couldn't have happened."

"Naruto wasn't lying!" Sakura insisted. "Plus, he hadn't even _heard_ about Karui's story, but the girl matched it perfectly, even though everyone who arrived on the scene said they hadn't seen her! And it's the same thing with the guy that fell in the lake, and the guy that tipped over the balcony, and that one stupid girl that ran through a glass window! They all said the same thing, that there was a girl that somehow, without touching them, managed to get them into accidents, and they _all _said that before she walked away, she blew them a kiss." The sound of Sakura's hand slapping down on the table resounded against the nearby bookshelves. "Those can't possibly all be coincidences."

The girls were silent for a couple seconds. Tenten closed her book, marking the page delicately, and stared down at the wood of the table. She listened 'till she could hear one of the girls laugh nervously, saying, "Sakura, you know you're talking about a _myth_, right? Crimson isn't _real_, she's an urban legend."

The other girls relaxed again, the catty atmosphere returning. Another one joined in, "Yeah, besides, you still haven't answered why none of them could say anything other than the fact that she had red lips."

"Well…I mean, if she…_was _real…I'm not saying she is!" Sakura defended herself uncertainly. "But if she _was_, then why would the people that she tricked want to give her a reason to have it out for them even more?" The girls all made little "Mhm"s of agreement, and Sakura continued. "Obviously they don't want to turn her in because she might find a way to get back at them. They seem to know she's smart enough to."

"That's so true…" another girl said in a hushed voice. "All these accidents leave the victims seriously injured or scarred, and none of them had ever met her before. Imagine how they'd end up if she was _angry_ at them."

"Oh man, I'm scared now…" a different one squealed. "What if she comes after me?"

Again, they were silent as they contemplated this. But the girl who'd laughed before exhaled sharply, sounding very disapproving. "But come on. She's _not real_. And even if she _was_ real, which she _isn't_, she wouldn't come after us! The only people who were _apparently _targeted by her were probably people that got her angry or something, and she just wanted to take it out on them. _We _haven't done anything wrong. We're safe."

"Actually, that's not true."

The girls at the table all stiffened visibly as Tenten turned to face them. She had abandoned her book by now. She usually didn't concern herself with gossip or chatter but this wasn't the usual boys and makeup and sex conversation. This was interesting. Very interesting.

"…Sorry?" the girl who'd been speaking before said politely, confused.

One girl with pink hair and green eyes sitting across the table, who Tenten assumed was Sakura, was watching her, very interested. "You think she still might possibly target us?" she asked Tenten inquiringly.

Tenten twisted around in her seat. "Not necessarily. But…Well first off sorry for eavesdropping, but I think you guys forgot to notice something about this girl…uh, Crimson."

The girls began to lean forward, eyes wide, eager to hear what she had to say. "What is it, does she leave a clue or something?" one of them asked excitedly.

Tenten shook her head. "Not a clue, but there is a pattern, you know besides the tricking and the lipstick and the kiss."

"What, what is it?"

Tenten chewed on her lip uncertainly for a second. "Uh…It's not something you'd expect. But I did see it every time I read about it or heard about it. The stories are everywhere, and they're all the same. These people that were targeted were all kinda…well…"

"…Kinda what?"

Tenten sighed. "Stupid."

The girls at the table were all speechless. They gazed at Tenten, faces frozen as their minds registered this. Finally Sakura blinked and mumbled, "What…do you mean by 'stupid'?"

"Well not stupid as in they're a dumb stupid or a low GPA kind of stupid," Tenten confirmed quickly. "Stupid like…they're gullible. Easily manipulated."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "Yes…" she said slowly in a quiet voice, pressing a fist gently into her hand. "They all had to be convinced into giving her something she could drop, or doing something for her, or putting themselves into dangerous positions."

Tenten pointed a finger at Sakura. "Right. Basically, all these people were capable of being tricked into making, well, stupid decisions. And Crimson knew this."

"But why would she want to hurt them?" another girl asked timidly, finger to her lips. "Is she just sadistic?"

"Well that's part of it," Tenten estimated. "You have to be to do stuff like that. But she's also smart. Really smart. She knows how to determine who a person is just by looking at them, she knows how to make herself unseen, and she knows how to hurt and scare a person _without _killing them or other people."

"So she's full of it," one of them gathered with a smirk. "She's doing the blowing-a-kiss and lipstick thing to make people recognize her, so they can be afraid of her."

Tenten shrugged. "Pretty much. This girl knows she's good. So she dislikes other people. A _lot_. And now that she's started taking action against them, she's leaving signs. She's trying to send a message to the 'other people' she hates so much, she's trying to get them to understand how to make her happy."

Tenten rested a hand on the back of her chair and said confidently, "Crimson doesn't get rid of the people who make her angry. She gets rid of the people that get in her way."

"Cute." All the girls, Tenten included, turned to face a blonde leaning against one of the bookshelves. She worked at the library according to the black bag she was carrying containing a huge stack of books and printed with the school's logo, and she was busy slipping them back into the shelves. But now she was watching the group of girls with a condescending smirk on her face.

Tenten was intimidated immediately. Not only was she obviously very strong and pretty confident, she was very beautiful. Pastel blonde hair waved around golden skin and teal eyes, framed by a gorgeous heart-shaped face. She was fashionable, in a modest but sexy dress and flats, and was crossing a pair of the best legs Tenten had ever seen.

She let out a laugh. "Sorry," she said. Tenten tilted her head to the side, recognizing an Egyptian accent. This girl was foreign. "But listening to people have such serious conversations about Crimson…It's kinda funny." The girls were all silent, quite in awe of this sudden visitor. She raised an eyebrow at them, smiling. "You don't really believe in her, do you?"

It was quiet, 'till Sakura sat forward nervously. "Uh…Well I'm starting to believe it's possible," she admitted. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time someone's decided to take justice into their own hands."

"But it's not justice," Tenten said. She noticed the blonde watching her intently from the corner of her eye but continued; "There are people who are criminals walking around this campus perfectly unharmed, and the people that have been in these accidents don't deserve it. There isn't anyone walking around trying to deliver justice."

The blonde nodded, eyes twinkling. "Right," she said cheerfully. "Besides, stories spread fast. The same girl in everyone's idea should be considered normal. These people were put through trauma, and they resort to what all humans who've been put through the same kind do; blame it on something other than a random coincidence."

Tenten frowned. "Wait," she said, and the blonde paused right before she was about to turn back to the bookshelf. "Didn't you," she nodded to Sakura, "mention that the one boy, Naruto…hadn't even _heard _of the girl before…?" Sakura nodded, and the blonde slowly turned back over her shoulder. Tenten shook her head. "But the girl in his description matched the girl in the other victim's perfectly."

The blonde watched Tenten. Tenten could almost _feel_ the intensity of her eyes. But she liked proving people wrong. And plus. None of this made sense…

So she stared back at her confidently and said, "Random coincidences _do_ happen. But this isn't one. It's not justice either, what it _is_, is just a very smart person playing mind games with very stupid people."

The blonde's blue eyes flashed dangerously. Tenten forced herself not to turn away as a small uncomfortable silence filled the vicinity for half a minute. Finally, the blonde smiled gently and said, "Well what do _you_ think?" Tenten raised an eyebrow, and she added, "You haven't really said yet if you actually believe in Crimson." She pulled some hair from her face, asking innocently, "_Do_ you?"

Tenten watched her curiously, saying slowly, "I do."

She gazed at Tenten for a while longer. The girls at the table in the background were deathly silent, as if they were watching a movie. Finally the blonde let out a laugh and turned back to the bookshelves. "Well if you ask my opinion, she's just a phony." She placed a couple books back into one of the rows, saying distractedly, "I'm new to this country by just a year, but even I know an urban legend when I see one."

Finally done with the books, she slung the black bag over her shoulder and faced the girls. "So take my advice; forget about that little myth and focus on your studies," she said sweetly. "If you're so certain that Crimson exists, why are you talking about her anyways?" She smirked, and narrowing her eyes said sarcastically, "You never know when she's hiding in the bookshelves."

Tenten let out a breathy laugh at that joke. But she couldn't help but feel a sort of resentment for the blonde as she slipped past their table and waved a hand over her shoulder, dismissing them.

The girls all turned to each other and continued their gossip, shrugging off the matter completely.

Doing exactly what she'd said.

But Tenten did not dismiss the subject as she turned back to her own table and opened her book again. She watched the pretty blonde as she waited in front of the elevators. She was smiling contentedly, like she'd won a prize. Her eyes gleamed in the dim orange light, and she leaned on one hip, relaxed and casual.

But Tenten was a very observant person.

There were things no one else could see that Tenten took notice of. Things no one else seemed to care about, but Tenten did.

Tenten was interested.

Very, very interested.

At first glance, she was impressive because she wore almost no makeup.

The rest of her was completely natural, and spotless. Her face had only a few brown freckles, and other than that she had no spots, no zits, nothing to be ashamed of. For someone that had no cover-up, no blush or shadow, she was absolutely gorgeous, and, some could say, perfect.

Except Tenten didn't believe in perfection, she knew everyone had flaws. Even her. She was almost always spot-on, but _almost _always.

And this young, beautiful blonde woman wore _almost _no makeup.

She wore lipstick.

Blood red.

**gιηgєявяєα∂ ℓєgѕ **

The tiny, Chinese brunette girl blinked her chocolate eyes back at Tenten through the glass of the mirror.

She listened to the sounds of the near-empty public restroom. The humming of the pipes, the splashing of the water, the sounds of a pair of heels clacking on the floor.

The girl in front of her was skinny, and sort of short. Not so short that it was alarming or out of the ordinary. But definitely not tall. Tenten had never prided herself on this.

But she _was _pretty. For being Asian her eyes were very large, and people always said she had a sort of warm and friendly vibe around her. She had an athletic build, so although she was very thin and delicate, she was toned, and healthy-looking. She had a round face with childish, baby-doll features. Cute, she decided she would call herself. Cute, and pretty.

But not sexy. Her breasts were large, but not impressive. She didn't have those round thighs and curvy hips. She didn't have those plump, red lips.

"Who was she?" Tenten whispered to her reflection quietly enough that she was drowned out by the sound of a toilet flushing.

She twisted around to face Ino. She exited one of the stalls, and grinned at Tenten as she walked over next to her at the sink. "Ah, I can't wait for this class!" she exclaimed. "Are you excited for yours?"

"Um, no," Tenten scoffed at her roommate, turning back to the mirror and heaving a sigh. She fidgeted with her long, brown hair, pulling her twin braids behind her shoulders. "Just because you have a presentation you're all happy…I hate presenting, I'm _glad_ I don't have to do a project today." She pouted, and Ino giggled.

"Oh come on," the pretty blonde said as she splashed water over her manicured hands. "I can't see why you don't _love_ attention." She sighed happily and lathered them with soap. "It's almost orgasmic."

Tenten couldn't help but laugh at the adjective, knocking Ino's shoulder. "I've been saying for two years, but you are the best roommate ever."

"That's because I was the horniest one out there two years ago," Ino said with a smirk. She rinsed her hands, shook off the water, and crossed over to the paper towels, saying as she did so, "But you know, Tenten, I've been slacking lately."

"What, no sex in a week?" Tenten asked with a fake gasp. Ino glowered as she wiped her hands dry, and Tenten giggled. "I'm kidding. I know you've been really good about that recently."

"It's not just that," Ino said, puckering her lips. "I just haven't been attracted to men…at all."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Well _maybe_ you should experiment more with the other side," she suggested lightly, skipping after her friend as she went to throw away the paper towel. "I mean, you've only tried things with _one_ girl, right?" Ino nodded thoughtfully, chucking the towel away in the trash can. Tenten frowned distastefully. "And you _still _won't tell me about it."

Ino smiled. "Tenten,I _can't_."

"I don't see why!" Tenten complained. "We tell each other everything, and you can't share this one little detail?"

"It's really, really complicated, and super personal, okay?" Ino whined. "Leave it alone!"

"Humph." Tenten twisted her lips churlishly and shrugged. "Fine. But if I ever do something with a girl, I'm keeping it a secret from you, so we can see how _you_ like it."

"Aw, that's not fair!" Ino cried, her mouth hanging open as they exited the bathroom into the community center of Manchester University's campus. "You have to tell me!"

"It's perfectly fair!" Tenten defended herself purposefully.

Ino groaned. "Fine. If your bi-curious side _ever_ finally kicks in, and you do something with a girl, I will tell you what happened with me, and you'll tell me what happened with you."

Tenten grinned. "Deal."

"But that's never going to happen anyways," Ino sang, shrugging and waltzing down the hallway past one of the food courts. "I know I'm bi and you're not, but I've done _way_ more with girls, you've _never_ done anything!"

Tenten smirked. "Oh, I dunno!" she teased. "I'm pretty smart. And smart is the new sexy." She punched Ino gently in the arm as they walked down the hall together, saying dreamily, "I'm sure there's some girl out there that'll want a piece of the captain of _two_ sports teams!"

"And the leader of a movement!" Ino gasped, grinning. "I really hope you get that co-ed athletics team thing, you've been working on that for over a year now."

Tenten grinned. "Me too. I'm sure I will, I already have a lot of people going for it. I'm also a really big name in this school, I'm sure people are going to support me."

"Totally," Ino agreed eagerly. She sniggered. "Now that I think of it, a _lot _of girls are gonna want a piece of you. 'Specially with an ass like yours!"

Tenten laughed too. "Told ya so, Ino." Her smile faltered a bit though as they passed a window, and she saw herself in the reflection. "Told ya so…"

1: **run like the devil**

There was a vibrator in Ino's purse.

Tenten knew it was there even if she couldn't see it; there was only one thing that could make that bump. The bag sat on the ground next to Ino, who was standing opposite Tenten in the hallway. The building was filled with college students at this hour, getting ready to go their next classes or else going back home. Tenten and Ino were lucky enough to have one class each in the same building at the same time, so they could always go to lunch together after the hour was over.

Tenten tilted her head to the side. Why was Ino carrying a vibrator around? There was always the chance that it was new and she hadn't had the chance to put it away yet. But still. She really was telling the truth; she wasn't being satisfied by men.

It looked like a pretty good vibrator. Tenten sighed, puckering her lips. She needed a new one…

"See something interesting?"

Tenten turned sharply at the husky voice coming from her left. "Hm?" She was a little surprised but hid it quickly. She simply hadn't noticed this girl sitting down next to her on the bench so suddenly. She became even more stiff when she saw who she was; the same, intimidating foreign blonde from the other day in the library.

She smiled, and it was beautiful as the rest of her. "Sorry, I just noticed you were really focused on Ino's purse there." Tenten relaxed visibly, and the girl tilted her head to the side. "You remember me? We talked in the library. About Crimson." She laughed. "Apparently opposites attract, huh?"

Tenten laughed as well. "Yeah, I remember you. I guess so." Tenten turned back to Ino, watching her as she fussed about with the boot, struggling to keep the laces in a knot. "So whaddaya know; you're a friend of Ino's."

"Hm." The blonde paused. "I am. I guess." She laughed musically. "I mean, we only just met last week, but we're in the same class, and we talk."

"I guess that makes you friends."

"I guess." Tenten tried not to look too uncertain as the girl continued to stare at her with those dangerous teal eyes. She was even scarier than last time, probably because she was at a closer distance. "So," she said conversationally. She seemed to be much less awkward than anyone else would have been. A natural at starting things with strangers, apparently. "What did you think you saw in Ino's purse?"

Tenten shrugged and drummed her fingers on the bench. "Oh, nothing really…" She smirked, secretly laughing at herself. "Just something I wanted, that's all."

She felt Temari's stare, and turned to her. "…A piece of gum," she lied easily with a grin.

Temari nodded slowly, but Tenten spotted the way her eyebrows raised high into her bangs; she didn't believe her.

"Hey I'm ready Tenten…Oh, you two know each other?"

The two turned to face Ino who was walking over happily. Tenten stood and shook her head, but the blonde began before she could: "Yes!" Tenten blinked as the blonde walked over and stood next to her. "We actually met two days ago in the library." She giggled airily. "We got into a friendly debate about Crimson, of all things."

Ino gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I heard about her! She's terrifying!"

Tenten tried not to roll her eyes. "Not really," she said as the blonde next to her laughed politely. The blonde sighed and adjusted her bag. "Well I have to work in fifteen minutes, the library's a long walk away from here."

"Oh, you'd better go," Ino insisted, ushering her away sweetly. "Have a nice time working Temari!"

Temari.

Tenten tested the word, pressing her lips into her shoulder briefly, whispering it against her sleeve. It rolled off of her tongue like water. It flew off her teeth like the wind.

"Thanks Ino. See you in class next week?"

"See you sweetie."

Temari gave Tenten a brilliant smile over her shoulder that Tenten attempted lamely to return, before gliding off. She walked briskly into the crowd, but people stepped out of her way, parting almost in respect. Like they could read just from looking at her that they needed to.

Ino twisted around, hair flying, to face Tenten with a grin. "So!" she said happily. "You met Temari, huh? She's great isn't she?" She leaned forward, whispering excitedly, "She's also a model! A legit one too, like she actually works for an agency and everything!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow as Ino squealed, "Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah…" Tenten said uncertainly, watching over Ino's shoulder Temari disappear into the crowd.

_яυη яυη яυη_

"Is that book in Chinese?"

Tenten glanced up and swallowed the dread that crept up her throat as soon as she saw Temari.

She quickly gathered her thoughts, staring out in front of her as she closed the book on her lap. She sat in a booth of the side of a subway station, waiting for her ride. This was her sanctuary. This was the place she escaped to, the long rides, the half an hour of reading and studying and relaxing. She came here to think, and be _alone_.

It had been corrupted.

"Yeah, um…" She forced a tiny smile as the blonde sat down next to her without invitation. "Actually I'm from China, so I still have a lot of my old books…"

"Oh wow, that's really interesting," Temari said genuinely. She paused and gave the brunette an expectant look, and Tenten blinked.

"Oh…" She faced her completely. "Tenten." Temari's eyes widened, and Tenten said cautiously, "Temari, right?"

Temari grinned. "Right." She crossed one leg gracefully over the other, and Tenten's eyes were almost captured immediately by the smoothness in which she did this task. "Tenten, huh?" Tenten nodded, and Temari puckered her lips, thinking. "Chinese for 'heavenly'…"

Tenten gasped, losing her cool for just a second. "You know Chinese?"

Temari laughed airily, waving away Tenten's shock. "No, I'm just learning." She leaned back into the booth, sweeping some of her prettily wavy hair over her shoulder as she said easily, "It'll be my fifth language once I finally learn it."

Tenten felt her mouth drop open. She didn't even bother hiding her features this time, this girl _had_ to be impossible. "You know _five_?" Temari giggle and nodded. Tenten turned away from her, feeling a strange hot feeling boiling in her chest.

"I only know three…" she said, more to herself than to Temari. She heard her say cheerfully from her side, "Well that's still really impressive!"

Tenten said nothing, her mind filled to the brim with condescending thoughts. But Temari wouldn't stop. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for some friends to get off, this is their stop," Tenten explained, forcing herself to be as casual as possible through her fog of emotion. Her chest felt hollow. "What about you?"

Temari, twisting her hair distractedly, said, "Oh, I'm just going to head down to the agency. I'm gonna get prepped on my next shoot."

Tenten frowned. "Oh yeah, you're a model, aren't you?" Temari glanced at her, and Tenten explained, "Ino told me."

"Oh! Yeah, I am. Not too big or anything right now, but you never know!" Temari threaded her fingers together on her lap. "She's really interested in that, Ino."

"Oh, she's interested in everything," Tenten said with a fond grin.

Temari giggled. "Totally! I mean, she's _always_ talking about her totally awesome roommate." Tenten smiled a bit, and Temari watched her. "You sure have a reputation, don't you?" Tenten blinked, and Temari nodded. "Yeah, I recognized your name as soon as you said it! _Everyone_'s talking about you. Owner of two sports teams, straight A student, really popular."

Tenten tried to take advantage of these compliments and take them to heart. But it was very difficult. She sat up a little straighter however and shrugged. "Mhm. I do a lot of work. I'm really involved."

She suddenly noticed a glimmer in Temari's eyes. The blonde leaned in even further, almost uncomfortably. "I'm glad we think the same."

Tenten blinked, feeling suddenly extremely uncomfortable. This girl's eyes were captivating, but at the same time, although it was impossible, Tenten wanted to escape from her gaze. "Wh…What do you mean?"

Temari grinned, a beautiful, blinding grin. "You know," she said smoothly. "We have the same ideas. Like, we're not afraid to admit that we're pretty well-off."

Tenten nodded slowly, trying desperately to understand. Temari leaned back just a bit, allowing Tenten to feel a second of freedom. "Like, you," Temari continued politely, "You _know_ you're a great athlete, and you know you're smart. But unlike other people, when they're being complimented and they get all modest, you know to back yourself up."

Tenten sat up a bit, feeling safer. "Yeah, I get you…" she said cautiously.

Temari grinned. "And me? I know I'm beautiful. I know I'm intelligent." Tenten felt a small twang in her chest. It was a spark, and it set her blood on fire. She didn't act on it, but she felt it and she loathed it. "And I'm not afraid to admit it." She looked at Tenten as if they shared an inside joke. "You know, right? I mean, if someone has a skill, if someone is really good at something, why should they hide it?"

Tenten stared back at Temari. "You have a point," she admitted slowly. Temari flashed a victorious smile and turned back to face the subway, but Tenten let the words escape her mouth in a split second. Like lightning and thunder, it was too quick to stop.

Like it was meant to be heard.

"But you're wrong."

When Temari whipped around, Tenten almost felt terrified. The look in her eyes was horrifying for a mere second. Tenten felt chills run down her back, felt herself grow paler in just that moment.

But she wasn't the type of person to back down.

She loved proving people wrong.

"For example…" Tenten continued quickly, and Temari immediately snapped back to polite attention, so quickly that Tenten thought she may have mistaken the terrible look earlier, "I could be really good at…" Tenten tried not to grin. "…stabbing you in the stomach." Temari raised an eyebrow, and Tenten nodded her head to the side. "Doesn't mean I should."

Tenten lifted one of her shoulders coyly. "You know what I mean?" she asked, a casual lilt to her voice.

Temari stared at Tenten, their eyes connected by a strange, enigmatic force. Then she smirked. "I disagree," she said softly. Tenten almost shivered at the feeling in her voice. "Stabbing someone, killing someone…" She shook her head. "That's not a _skill_. No a _skill _is controlling life itself."

Tenten blinked in surprise. Those words impacted her. For some reason, she was entranced by the way her ruby red lips moved with her words.

Red as blood…

"If you really know _people_…" Temari said slowly, voice low and frightening, "If you're really _good_ at seeing who people are, who they _really_ are, if you have a skill at twisting their lives _to your whim_…"

Her crimson lips formed a grin.

"If you can control someone else's life to make you happy," she finished in almost a whisper, "Why should you hide it?"

Tenten was paralyzed. She felt a cold breeze sneaking down the back of her shirt as the subway blasted into the station, whistling and screaming through the air.

Temari leaned back a bit. "For example," she continued, holding out her hand and relaxing her stature, her voice raised above the rumbling of the subway still whirling into the station. She had a humorous smirk on her face, and spoke almost exactly as Tenten had been speaking before. "I could be really good at making you want to get a vibrator."

Tenten stiffened. Temari giggled. "You know, like the one Ino had in her purse earlier today." Tenten's eyes widened. Temari shrugged. "It doesn't mean I should. But…it doesn't mean I won't do it…"

Tenten didn't believe in perfection.

She had a strict guideline of life, and firmly understood that everyone, every single human being on earth, had a flaw. Somewhere, somehow. No matter how far they hid it.

"You know what I mean?" Temari murmured.

Even the heavenly weren't perfect.

"You'd better run."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Tenten smiled and gestured in front of them. "Subway's here."

Temari stared at Tenten for a few seconds before smiling and jumping to her feet. "Oh, okay. Thanks." She twirled around and called over her shoulder, "See you around, heavenly." She gave Tenten a wink before walking off.

Tenten stood, waving after her. "See you," she said. She called quickly, "Watch your step."

Temari gave her another grateful smile before hopping into the subway, and Tenten watched her go.

Her eyes were hooded. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She clenched her jeans tightly, and tried not to think about vibrators.

She didn't know who Temari thought she was. But Tenten knew she wasn't perfect.

"…Watch your step…"

No one was.

**уσυ'∂  
>вєттєя<br>яυη**


End file.
